Sweatshop protest at new UK Primark store

War on Want

New Primark store faces storm

7p an hour sweatshops row hits launch

The launch of Primark’s second biggest UK store in Bristol next week will be marked by a demonstration over the conditions faced by 7p an hour workers making its clothes.

The Bristol-based campaign organisation Labour Behind the Label and the anti-poverty charity War on Want will lead the protest as the four-floor, 90,000 square feet shop opens on Thursday (13 August).

The protestors will compare Primark’s financial success with workers in Bangladesh producing its clothes for as little as 7p an hour for up to 80-hour weeks, well under a living wage.

Protestors will demonstrate, using radios broadcasts of garment workers’ voices, sweatshop figures, protest songs and announcements.

The demonstrators will point to Primark’s new store and 11 others launched in the past year, including its first outlets in Germany and Portugal.

They will also cite Primark’s 21 per cent sales growth in the 16 weeks to 20 June and 10 per cent rise in profits to £122 million during the six months ending in February.

According to War on Want research (link below), workers interviewed toiling at three Primark factories in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka received on average only £19.16 (2280 taka) a month, under half a living wage. Some employees were paid only the minimum wage, £13.97 (1663 taka) a month, far less than the £44.82 (5333 taka) needed for nutritious food, clean water, shelter, clothes, education, health care and transport.

The vast majority of employees lived in small, crowded shacks, many of which lack plumbing and adequate washing facilities. Though forced overtime is illegal in Bangladesh, employees said they were made to toil extra hours, often unpaid.

Workers complained that in the fast fashion rush to produce the latest styles, many of them suffered verbal and physical abuse as they struggled to meet unrealistic targets. Yet the Dhaka workers said none of their factories was unionised.

Ifat, who toils in a factory, said: “I can’t feed my children three meals a day.”

Labour Behind Label spokesperson Anna McMullen said: “Primark sell clothes at rock bottom prices by driving down suppliers’ costs, trapping garment workers in poverty. It must stop paying lip service to ethics and ensure decent wages and conditions for the people behind their success.”

War on Want spokesperson Seb Klier said: "For years Primark has reassured shoppers its garment workers earn a living wage. Yet our research exposes these claims as nothing more than cynical attempts to mislead the public. It is high time the British government stopped this abuse.”

NOTE:

* The organisations involved with the demonstration will be Labour Behind the Label, War on Want, Bristol Flashmob, Bristol No Sweat, Radical Street Theatre, Indymedia and Christian Aid.

* The War on Want research is at this link: http://www.waronwant.org/campaigns/supermarkets/fashion-victims/inform/16360-fashion-victims-ii